Shrewsbury to Chester Line

The Shrewsbury to Chester Line, also known as the Severn - Dee Line (after the rivers on which Shrewsbury and Chester stand), was built in 1846 as the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. The engineer for the line was a Mr Robertson while the contractor was Thomas Brassey in partnership with William Mackenzie and Robert Stephenson [Helps, Arthur "The Life and Works of Mr Brassey", 1872 republished Nonsuch, 2006. p. 107 ISBN 1845880110] .

History

It became part of the Great Western Railway's main line from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside until nationalisation when it was part of the Western Region until later transferred to the London Midland Region of British Rail. It runs from Shrewsbury in England to Chester, also in England. Of the remaining intermediate stations, Gobowen is in England but the rest are in Wales.

The towns served by the lines are listed below.
*Shrewsbury
*Gobowen (for Oswestry)
*Chirk
*Ruabon
*Wrexham
*Chester

ervices

Passenger trains along the line are operated by Arriva Trains Wales and Wrexham & Shropshire.

At Chester, there are connections towards Crewe and Holyhead (on the North Wales Coast Line), towards Manchester Piccadilly via Warrington Bank Quay (on the Chester to Manchester Line), towards Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich (on the Mid-Cheshire Line) and towards Liverpool Lime Steet (on Merseyrail's Wirral Line).

At Shrewsbury, connections are provided towards Carmarthen via Hereford & Cardiff Central and Manchester via Crewe (via the Welsh Marches Line), towards Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (on the Cambrian Line), towards Swansea (via the Heart of Wales Line) and towards Birmingham New Street or London Marylebone (via the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line).

Growth in services

In December 2005, Arriva Trains Wales introduced a new timetable to the line, providing an hourly service between Shrewsbury and Chester, Monday to Saturday, from early morning until around midnight (involving eight additional trains serving Gobowen). This improved service includes a through train every two hours between Holyhead and Cardiff throughout most of the day. The line has seen passenger numbers double during 2003–2004 and increase by 300% since 1999.

On 28 April 2008 Wrexham & Shropshire began providing services along the section of line between Wrexham General and Shrewsbury, continuing via the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line to London Marylebone.

Incidents

*On 24 May 1847 five passengers were killed and many were injured in the Dee Bridge Disaster. A Chester to Ruabon train fell convert|11|m|abbr=on into the River Dee, following the collapse of the Dee Railway bridge on the outskirts of Chester. A girder, which had cracked in the middle, gave way as the train crossed. The engine and tender managed to reach the other side of the bridge but the carriages crashed into the river. ["A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume 11: North and Mid Wales", Peter E Baughan 1980, ISBN 0715378503] The bridge was engineered by Robert Stephenson despite warnings from civil engineer, William Fairbairn. He had warned Stephenson about the problems using cast iron girders only a few months before construction of the bridge at a meeting at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, but his advice was ignored. A Royal Commission following this accident led to a re-evaluation of the use of cast-iron in railway bridges. Many new bridges had to be reinforced or rebuilt.
*On 19 July 2008 the 16:46 Gobowen–Chester service, struck a tractor and trailer at the Weston Rhyn level crossing between Gobowen and Chirk just before 17:00. The tractor driver suffered severe head injuries in the incident and the train suffered severe front end damage, although it stayed on the rails. [ Today's Railways Issue 81]

References